WEGE (104.9 FM) — branded 104.9 The Eagle — is a commercial

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

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licensed to

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Owned by Woof Boom Radio, the station serves Allen County and is the local affiliate for '' Nights with Alice Cooper''. Both the WEGE studios and transmitter are located in Lima.

History

WEGE was founded in 1970 as WLSR (for "Lima Stereo Radio") airing a beautiful music format, which later moved to

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

in 1986, after being purchased by Allen Broadcasting Company. Using the slogan Lite 105, the station featured live, local disc jockeys and newscasters in drive time, and the Transtar "Format 41" satellite service at all other times. In 1989, the station modified its nickname to Lite Rock 105, forgoing the satellite service in favor of all live, local disc jockeys. In 1991, WLSR changed its nickname again, this time to "Mix 104.9," while continuing the adult contemporary format. In 1995, WLSR and its sister AM station, WCIT, became among the first stations in the United States to operate using computers to store and play all music and commercials. The system, built by Scott Studios, allowed the stations to operate in live or fully automated modes, with disc jockeys broadcasting live, or pre-recording their voice tracks into the system. In 1996, WLSR changed to an Urban format, changing its nickname to "105 Jamz" and its call letters to WLJM (standing for "Lima's Jamz"). In 1997, Allen Broadcasting Company sold both stations to Forever Broadcasting, which moved the Urban/R&B-format and call letters to the AM station, renamed "940 JAMZ" WLJM. The FM station was briefly known as adult contemporary WAJC from July 1997 to November 1999, From 1999–2005 the station aired classic hits under the callsign WUZZ-FM. The station was mostly automated using voices from the other stations in the building at the time (WZOQ, etc.) in recorded voice breaks. The morning and afternoon drive time slots were the only ones "live".

Current programming

On April 19, 2007, the FCC approved a call sign change from WUZZ-FM to WEGE. WEGE had been the call sign of a station in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

, owned by North American Broadcasting in the Columbus market, prior to changing its call sign to WTDA in 2004. WEGE airs '' Nights with Alice Cooper'' weeknights via

United Stations Radio Networks United Stations Radio Networks (United Stations) is a radio network that provides a variety of radio programs and programming services for radio stations throughout the United States and elsewhere. It is based in New York City. History The comp ...

. Effective July 1, 2013, WEGE and its sister stations were purchased by Childers Media Group, a locally owned company, from Maverick Media at a price of $2.1 million; its offices and studios were moved from its former location on Cable Road to 57 Town Square in downtown Lima. Effective February 15, 2018, Childers Media Group sold WEGE and four sister stations to Woof Boom Radio of Lima LLC for $2.425 million.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lima, Ohio EGE Radio stations established in 1970 Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1970 establishments in Ohio